In recent years, ECVs have become increasingly popular. Examples of such products include the Station Wagon, the Sport Utility Vehicle, and the Mini-Van. These ECVs are all characterized by an enlarged cabin area that extends generally from the windshield of the vehicle, to the rear end of the vehicle where a tailgate (or rear hatch) is provided for rear access into the cabin.
The increased popularity of these vehicles can be attributed in some measure to their increased passenger carrying capacity when compared to conventional sedans. Most sedans include two rows of seats, including a front row in which the driver and front passenger(s) sit, and a first (and only) row of rear seats. Many ECVs include a second rear row of seats in addition to the front and back seats.
As both cargo and passenger carrying capacity are valued, it is desirable to design the first and second rear row of seats to be configured both to carry additional passengers and additional cargo, and to be convertible easily between an enhanced passenger carrying configuration, and an enhanced cargo carrying configuration.
Examples of patents showing various seating/cargo configurations for ECVs are Itoh U.S. Pat. No. 4,194,782; Odagaki et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,581; LeBault et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,277,736; Crawford et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,475,769; Gokimoto et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,484,776; Gokimoto et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,627,656; Plavetich U.S. Pat. No. 4,699,418; Brambilla U.S. Pat. No. 5,248,178; Hayden et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,368,355; Fowler et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,466,048; and Woziekonski et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,699.
Some of the patents described above disclose seats for use in vans and minivans, whereas others relate to seats for use in station wagons and sport utility vehicles. The design challenges faced by the designers of seats for vans are usually somewhat different than the challenges faced by those designing seats for station wagons and sport utility vehicles. Vans typically have a cargo compartment that is taller that the cargo compartments in either station wagons or sport utility vehicles. Additionally vans usually have a flat floor which extends generally between the back of the front row of seats and the tailgate. On the other hand, station wagons and sport utility vehicles typically do not have a flat floor.
Because of these different configurations, seats for vans are typically designed differently than seats for station wagons and sport utility vehicles. Most seats for vans are designed to be of chair height, and have relatively long legs which connect the lower surface of the seat bottom portion to the floor of the van. As the floor of the van is generally flat, and has no foot wells, most van seats do not contain mechanisms for making the seat a part of the van floor when the user desires to carry cargo. Rather, van seats are often designed to be removable to enable the user to remove the seat from the van when he wishes to have a large cargo area.
To the contrary, most middle and rear seat assemblies for sport utility vehicles and station wagons are not designed to be removable. Rather, the seats are designed to be foldable. To move the seat between its "passenger carrying" position and its "cargo carrying" position, the back portion and/or the seat bottom portion are rotated about pivot axes, so that one of the surface(s) of one or both of the back portions of the first and second rear seats are generally co-planar with the floor of the vehicle. When the first and second rear seats are placed in their "cargo" positions, a planar cargo surface can be formed which extends from the rearward facing surface of the front seats to the tailgate of the vehicle. An example of a folding arrangement that is useable in a station wagon is shown in LeBault et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,227,736.
Notwithstanding the existence of several known seating arrangements that provide for seats that are capable of being moved between a passenger carrying position and a cargo carrying position, room for improvement exists.
It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide a seat system that includes a pair of seats having a middle seat assembly that provides comfortable and safe seating for the occupants when the seat is in its seating position, and which can be folded into a cargo carrying position that provides a generally planar cargo carrying compartment.
Another difficulty that faces a seat designer of vehicles having three rows of seats is providing a means to permit ingress to and egress from the third seat. Most station wagons, vans and sport utility vehicles that have three rows of seats include either four or five doors. Almost all vehicles include left and right "front" doors to permit passengers to gain access to the left hand and right hand front seats. Many station wagons, sport utility vehicles, and minivans manufactured by the assignee, Chrysler Corporation, contain two rear side doors that are placed adjacent to the second row of seats. On such vehicles, the rearward opening tailgate is typically counted as the "fifth" door.
Because the rear side doors of most ECVs are positioned adjacent to the middle row of seats, means must be provided for enabling passengers to gain ingress and egress to the rear row of seats. Several currently known methods exist for providing such access. For example, many station wagons install a rearwardly facing rear seat that permits passengers to gain access thereto through the tailgate door. On minivans, a common practice is to use a middle seat that has a width substantially less than the width of the interior of the vehicle, to provide a space in the interior of the vehicle, adjacent to the door through which a passenger can pass to gain access to the rear seat.
Both of these two methods of providing ingress have drawbacks. For example, vehicle length constraints often make rear facing rear seats uncomfortable for passengers other than small children. Additionally, rearward facing rear seats are generally not suitable for use with car seats, thus precluding their use by very young children. Reduced width middle seats suffer the drawback of reducing the usable seat width, thus reducing the passenger carrying capacity of the vehicle.
It is therefore desirable to provide a full width middle seat for a vehicle that provides access to the rear row of seats to enable the rear row of seats to be placed in a forward facing orientation.
Accordingly, a passenger vehicle seat arrangement is provided for a vehicle having a body including a pair of front side doors and a pair of rear side doors, on opposite sides of a passenger compartment. A front seat assembly is disposed in a front portion of the passenger compartment generally between the pair of front side doors. A middle seat assembly is disposed in a middle portion of the passenger compartment generally between the pair of rear side doors. A rear seat assembly is disposed in a rear portion of the passenger compartment behind the middle seat assembly. The middle seat assembly includes two outer seat sections and a center seat section disposed between the two outer seat sections. The two outer seat sections are capable of moving independently of the center seat section from a first position for receiving passengers in a seated position to a second position forward of the first position to allow access to the rear seat assembly through each of the pair of rear side doors.
According to another aspect of the present invention, an automotive vehicle is provided including a passenger compartment having a first seat assembly disposed in the passenger compartment and including a first seat and a first seat back pivotable between a first upright seating position and a second generally horizontal position. A second seat assembly is disposed in the passenger compartment and includes a second seat bottom and a second seat back movable between a first upright seating position and a second generally horizontal position. The second seat is disposed at a higher level than the first seat when in its normal seating position. The respective pivotal axes of both of the seat backs are generally disposed in a common substantially horizontal plane. When the seat back of the first seat assembly and the seat back of a second seat assembly are each in their second generally horizontal position, the seat backs combine to form a substantially horizontal cargo storage surface.
The passenger vehicle floor and seat arrangement of the present invention provides seating for up to eight persons and offer numerous people/cargo combinations. The roof has been raised to provide more headroom and theater-styled raised seating for the middle and rear seat passengers. The middle and rear seats fold quickly and easily with one hand operation and lie nearly flat providing a large cargo area.
Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood however that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.